The Return: The Rewrite
by Nemainofthewater
Summary: 3O years have passed since the 456 were destroyed, and Jack is back. But what happens when he is immediately captured by Torchwood? And just who are they?
1. Chapter 1

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise. It all belong to the BBC.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**A/N: **This is a rewrite of one of my stories.

**Chapter 1**

Jack Harkness reluctantly stepped out of the TARDIS doors and onto the surface of planet earth.

It had been 200 years since he had last been here, 200 years for him at least. Here on Earth it had only been 30 years. A mere three decades since the 456 invaded; hardly any time at all. Strangely enough, the entire Earth had dismissed that incident as a hoax. Jack knew that he shouldn't be surprised; they had dismissed nearly every major alien invasion, and he supposed that they weren't going to start believing now.

The Doctor had checked the date several times before shoving Jack out of the TARDIS door; it had shown the importance of the situation as he usually just ran out of the door regardless of when or where he had landed.

Jack glanced behind him to see the Doctor nod start the walk to Cardiff, as the Doctor, being the Doctor, had managed to land a few miles outside of Cardiff, even though he had got the date right.

As he built up his nerve and mentally checked what he was going to say to Gwen, who he hoped wasn't going to slap him, a black SUV sped towards him, the words TORCHWOOD boldly painted on its side.

Jack then did something that he was sure no one would ever let him live down if they could see him.

"What!" he exclaimed, and then winced. He'd been around the Doctor too long if he was even starting to talk like him.

Two men exited the SUV pointing guns at him. They both looked very alike, and to Jack it was obvious that they were family. They also looked vaguely familiar.

"Earth is a protected planet." Said one of them, not lowering his gun.

Jack put his hands up fairly quickly. He really didn't want to get shot on his first day back. He also had to admit, he was a little curious about the new Torchwood, and was hoping that Gwen would be there. He needed to apologise for leaving her; he had forgotten that Ianto's death hadn't just affected him and that Gwen had lost a colleague and friend as well.

He glanced behind him and saw the Doctor had disappeared, off to who knows where, probably his idea of forcing him to confront the problem.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as his hands were pulled down and handcuffs were snapped around his wrists, not too tight but nothing he would be getting out of easily he noted, and he was escorted towards the SUV.

_The Doctor wants me to get closure? Well I'm being driven right towards it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter 2**

Ianto Williams, current leader of Torchwood 3 was having a bad day. First he had woken up to realise that it was his birthday, his thirtieth birthday. Normally a birthday would be a happy day, but the mortality rate for Torchwood was mid-thirties, and if anything, Ianto Williams wasn't an optimist.

Next it had been his turn to feed the weevils, a task that he absolutely despised. And he hadn't even been able to milk the fact that it was his birthday and get out of it.

Thirdly there had been a huge Rift spike and he and Owen, his brother, had driven out to find a man in a World War II who wouldn't stop staring at them, and then at the base, with an annoying amount of familiarity.

Presently he was sitting in front of the monitor for the cells, watching the man stare up at the CCTV camera as if he knew it was there.

Ianto looked around at his brother and his sisters; Owen made an exaggerated shooing motion when he looked at him, and finally made his way down to the cells. The prisoner looked up as he entered with an annoyingly cocky grin plastered firmly on his face.

"Not bad accommodation here," he said, "As far as prison cells go, this one isn't bad at all. In fact, I'd give it an eight, and trust me; I know what I'm talking about."

Ianto decided that ignoring that was going to be the quickest and least painful way of getting this over with.

"What is your name, and do you have any plans to take over the Earth," he asked.

The prisoner rolled his eyes at him and replied:

"Well, I wouldn't tell you if I did, would I? But the name's Captain Jack Harkness and I'm here to visit someone."

Ianto snorted.

"Impossible," he said; "Jack Harkness has been dead for thirty years. If you want to invade us, at least get your facts straight."

"No, listen. I am Jack Harkness and I can prove it. Call Gwen Cooper, she'll be able to confirm it."

As soon as Harkness said the name, Ianto paled slightly, and practically ran up the stairs. He had a phone call to make.

"Mum? Get down here. You need to see this."

Next to the monitor where the Williams siblings had crowded to watch the interrogations, Martha, the youngest, turned around to look at her brother and sister.

"Could that really be Jack Harkness," she asked, excitement colouring her words. Jack Harkness was a figure of legend to her; her mother had told her countless bedtime stories about him, and she had gone to sleep for years listening to his adventures.

"He died Martha," said Owen, "We have to call Mum. How does he know her name?"

"Don't bother, I've already done it."

Standing in the doorway was Ianto, holding his mobile phone in his hand.

"She said that she'll come down as soon as possible."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter 3**

Gwen Williams dove into her car and started to quickly drive to the new Hub. Ianto had called her and had asked for her to come down. That almost never happened. Ianto had a tendency to be, well, overprotective. Even though she had been the leader of Torchwood until five years ago, he had always managed to make sure she didn't go out on the really dangerous missions.

So, for him to actually ask her to come to the Hub meant that it had to be something huge.

Pulling up outside the tourist office, she ran inside, flashing her Torchwood ID at the indignant police officer who was insisting that she couldn't park there, to see her four children standing around the monitor for the cells.

They turned around the minute she entered, they're faces serious. Gwen immediately assumed the worst.

"What's the threat?" she asked, removing the gun that a lifetime of Torchwood had ensured that she always kept on her.

Ianto, her brilliant Ianto, stepped up from the middle of them, his face calm.

"No threat Mam," he said, "We just want you to identify someone."

Gwen wasn't convinced. She had raised Ianto, and she knew when he was keeping something from her. Only the fact that Martha was bouncing on her seat was preventing her from assuming the worst, and asking when the alien invasion was due to arrive.

She walked down to the cells, slightly calmer now, catching her breathe slightly. At 59 she was still fit but didn't have the stamina that she used too, and despite what her children might think, was happy to sit back and let them do the work. The fact that she often visited them there was merely to see how they were doing, and that was all.

Then, all calmness fled from her. Sitting in one of the cells was...

"Jack!" Gwen gasped.

Jack raised his head slightly to look at the woman in front of his cell. She had silver hair, with green eyes that practically shone with life. There were prominent laugh lines around her mouth and eyes, and she still had that gap in her teeth.

"Gwen? Looking good." Jack said, dredging up more his infamous charm than he had produced for centuries.

"Why are you here Jack? You ran away. You said you wouldn't come back. You abandoned the human race, you abandoned us all again. I begged you to stay, and you left! So I rebuilt Torchwood because the Rift is still here, and I wanted to honour your memory, but now, here you are again! And so, Jack, what are you doing here?"

Jack winced a bit. So, Gwen hadn't forgiven him yet, and by the looks of it was angry at him. And ok, that was the understatement of the century, but he could work on it, and he would make amends, and then Gwen would forgive him. Right?

Gwen turned to Ianto who was listening silently.

"Open the door," she said to him calmly. Too calmly. Ianto did it before he could even register what she had said. He knew that tone. That was the 'Waht do you mean that we're going to be invaded in half an hour' voice.

The door swung open and Gwen turned back to Jack.

"Get out Jack."

He hesitated, not sure whether he should. This could be his only chance.

"Get out Jack!" Gwen said more forcibly, "Please." she added in a near whisper. It was the please that did it. Jack stood up and started to walk out.

As he entered the main part of the Hub, he saw three sets of eyes looking at him curiously.

Owen, Toshiko and Martha had heard all of the exchange and they were curious about this man, this fairytale that had been there bedtime story for years. They wanted to know why he was alive, and what he was doing here.

Looking at their Mam's face they wisely decided to keep quiet.

Jack stopped, and looked at the three faces which all bore the family resemblance. This could be his only chance, and, he wasn't going to leave these four, this new Torchwood to die. He looked at Gwen who motioned at him to keep going.

"I'm sorry," Jack said, his voice steady, "I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I ran away. I forgot that I wasn't the only one who lost someone. But Gwen, let me help. I can be part of this, I know more about aliens than any of you, and I can help you," _I can make sure that no one else dies._

There was a silence where nobody dared to speak then...

"Let him help us Mam. We don't know much about the creatures or technology that come through the Rift, and if we had an expert we could help more people, save more lives. Please. You've told us about him, you know that he really can help us." Toshiko said.

Gwen looked around at her children's hopeful faces, already resigned to what she was going to do, the choice that she was going to make. She didn't want to lose her children because of a silly mistake that having an alien expert on the team could have prevented.

"Fine." She said eventually, after having waited for what she deemed an acceptable amount of time. After all, even though she had decided to let Jack back into her family's life, that didn't mean she had to make it easy on him.

She turned around to face Jack, her face perfectly serious.

"If I come back and you've hurt one of my children I will hunt you down and I'll keep killing you until it sticks. Understood?"

The expression on Gwen's face would be something that sent even the most hardened men running screaming out of the door.

"Understood." Jack said.

Gwen smiled at her children as if nothing had happened.

"Don't forget Sunday dinner. I'll expect to see all of you there this time. Jack can watch the Rift." And with that parting statement, she walked out.

There was a silence as Jack looked at his new teammates.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter 4**

"Jack, my office," said Ianto, breaking the silence that Gwen's exit had caused. Jack obediently followed him up the familiar staircase that to what he still thought of as his office. Until he stepped into it. It was a cheerful place with photograph's of Ianto's family all over the place, and cheerful looking wallpaper.

"My sisters were let loose," said Ianto, correctly guessing what Jack was thinking.

"Now, since you're going to be working with us, I want you to understand a few things. First, whatever you may have been before you left, you are not the leader of Torchwood anymore, I am. That means that you'll have to answer all of my commands without question. Understood?"

"Perfectly," said Jack.

"Good. Now, you'll be working with Martha. She's our computer expert, and she's also my baby sister, so if you even think of hurting her, I am going to make your life very unpleasant. Owen, my brother, is second in command, and he's the slave driver of the family! Listen to his him, but remind him that there are only 24 hours to a day. Lastly, Toshiko is our doctor, and she wants to check you over before I clear you for duty. Watch out, she's just graduated from Med School, and she's very enthusiastic," He said with the air of someone who had been on the receiving side of this enthusiasm several times.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Just one. How did Torchwood restart?"

"A year after you vanished, the Government decided that it had been wrong to try and kill Torchwood; mostly because of the number of complaints that piled up from citizens and the number of weevils running around free. Mam seized the chance, and got them to rebuild the Hub exactly as she wanted. She, Lois and Tad came to work here, and later Andy joined as well. We all grew up here, playing in the Hub, and we joined once Mam said we were old enough. Then, five years ago, Tad died in a weevil attack, and Mam wasn't ever the same. That means Jack, unless we have an apocalypse, don't call her. When Lois was killed, it was the last straw, and she retired."

"What about Andy? And, do you know if a woman called Martha Milligan is alive?"

"Andy retired like Mam, and he visits us sometimes. Aunt Martha is still alive too, she's still working for UNIT though, so we don't see that much of her.

Jack nodded, comforted by the news that not everyone had died.

Ianto stood up and started to walk away, then stopped as a thought struck him.

"You can stay at the Hub if you like. We have a spare room here in case we ever need to monitor the Rift overnight."

"Why don't you show me where it is. I'm sure there's enough room for two." Jack said, more out of force of habit than any actual desire.

Ianto just snorted, and continued to walk away.

Hours later, Jack stood in the practically bare room, furnished only with a bed and a chest of draws. He was back at Torchwood. If he closed his eyes he could almost hear his Ianto asking him whether he wanted a cup of coffee.

He opened his eyes quickly as a wall if guilt rose up inside him. What was is Gwen had said?

You can't run away.

_She was right_ he realised.

He had run around the Galaxy for 200 years, trying to escape the guilt.

It hadn't worked. It had been at least 100 years before he could sleep without the memories overwhelming him. Even now he couldn't stop going over the terrible five days in his mind, thinking of ways he could have changed it.

He could have insisted Ianto stay behind. He _should_ have insisted Ianto stay behind.

He stopped thinking about it. It wasn't doing him any good. It had happened 200 years ago, at least for him. He needed to concentrate on the future, needed to protect Gwen's children. He wouldn't let anyone else die.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter 5**

One week. It had been one week since he returned to Torchwood. During that week there had been no alien invasions, even the weevils had gone quiet.

That had thrilled the rest of the team, but to Jack it showed that something was very wrong. If the weevils were quiet it meant something was scaring them.

He stared at the Water tower, thinking.

Even if there was something big coming there was nothing he could do about it without knowing what it was.

Not to say he hadn't tried. He had upgraded all the defences in the Hub including reinstalling the timelock Tosh had perfected before she had died.

He returned to the Hub and sat down in his room.

"When they come, I'll be ready." He promised to anyone who might be listening. "Because this is the 21st century, and this is when it all changes."

Late that night Jack sat up with a start. A telephone was ringing. Typical. He had finally managed to get a decent sleep, and he interrupted halfway through.

He padded upstairs, half asleep and answered the infernal thing.

"Torchwood." He said groggily. If this was a salesman, he was going to get really angry.

"This is the Home Secretary's office. We need a team over here immediately."

Jack was fully awake now. Not another politician. He would even prefer the salesperson.

"I'm afraid it'll take a while. Most of the team's at home."

"This is an emergency. Is there anyone available?"

Jack hesitated. He was available of course, but was he ready to announce his presence on Earth again? The last time he had dealt with politics he had got his grandson and lover killed. Yes he was. He wouldn't run away again, and he would honour their memory by saving the Earth every Christmas.

"Yes. I can be around momentarily."

"Good."

With that the phone disconnected. Really, they were rude.

Just for that, he dawdled slightly as he got dressed, and he calmly got into the SUV, before giving into his baser instincts, and sped away at a speed that was definitely not legal.

5 minutes later he was parked outside the office. Not bad.

Striding in, he bypassed security with a wave of his ID and an uttered "Torchwood". He was immediately escorted into the Home Secretary's office. He turned up the infamous Harkness grin.

"I believe you had an emergency?"

Robert Davies, Home Secretary, looked up, decidedly unimpressed, and motioned for him to sit down.

"So, the infamous Jack Harkness has finally emerged from the Hub." He remarked drily.

Jack stared at him.

He looked about 40 at the most. How would he know about him?

"American accent, RAF greatcoat, no respect for the Government. A remarkably accurate description. Do you think someone is employed at Torchwood without us knowing?"

"Then the emergency was made up? Did you just want me to come here? Because, you know you only had to ask."

"No, unfortunately that is all too real or else I wouldn't dream of calling you out to. I have enough ito deal with from my secretary. Here."

He handed Jack a sheaf of papers.

They held a few satellite photos of a spaceship and a message.

"We need you to translate that," Davies said, "And then neutralise the threat if there is one."

Jack nodded. He took the papers and exited the office.

Back at the Hub, Jack pored over the message.

It looked familiar, but unfortunately since the TARDIS had stopped translating for him, he had to do this the old-fashioned way.

He scanned the papers into the computer, and waited for the translation to appear. The computer beeped beside him.

He glanced at it, pressed a button and the page began to print.

As Jack looked at the pictures again, he suddenly realised where he had seen it before.

It was a Judoon ship.

_But why would they be here?_

With a final beep the page stopped printing.

It was a message from the Shadow Proclamation. The intergalactic police.

With an appearance not unlike that of a rhino, they were likely to slaughter whole planets to find a criminal.

And they were looking for the Doctor.

When Owen and Ianto arrived early the next day, they found Jack face down in the briefing room with paper and photos scattered around him, fast asleep.

Ianto picked up a piece of paper Jack had in his hand and glanced at it.

He froze looking at the page in horror.

They had 30 days to save the Earth. Again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter**** 6**

"We have a problem," Ianto told Toshiko and Martha who had just arrived.

"What, no hello for your sisters?" teased Toshiko.

"This is serious Toshiko. Last night a message was transmitted to Earth and passed on to us by the Home Secretary. The Judoon have pinpointed the Doctor's location to Earth, and if we don't send him to them they'll blow up the Earth."

Martha looked decidedly unimpressed.

"Some alien or other threatens to destroy the Earth nearly every month, if not more, and we've always stopped them. In fact, an alien threatening to blow up the Earth is almost routine. What makes these aliens different?"

"Firstly, they're called the Judoon. From what Harkness tells me, what makes them different is that they're the intergalactic police. The aliens we've had before have nearly always been rogues, and a few of them have almost managed to wipe out the Earth. Imagine what it would be like if they had been backed by the Government."

Martha thought.

Toshiko thought.

"What do you need us to do?" asked Toshiko.

"Martha, I need you to find or build a translator. Work with Harkness on it. Toshiko, I need you to phone the Government and inform them about the threat. Ask them to conduct a nationwide search for the Doctor. Tell them to call us if he's found." Ianto instructed.

Toshiko rushed off to the phone, and Martha walked over to Jack.

He and Owen were by the computers trying to figure out what to say to the Judoon that would not cause the destruction of Earth.

He looked over at her, delighted to have an excuse to stop working on the response. He was a more go in, flirt, and avert disasters by, ahem, 'distracting' them.

"Harkness?"

"Honey, I've told you a million times, with a face like yours, you can call me Jack."

"Harkness," she repeated firmly, remembering her mother's warnings, "Would you show me the computer program that you used to translate the Judoon's message? I need to program a translator."

"Of course I'll help." He said, undeterred, utterly delighted that he had a legitimate excuse not to work on the translator.

"Owen, do you mind?"

Owen waved him off and started gathering the numerous papers littering the table.

Miles away in downtown Cardiff a blue police box was sandwiched between two bins. In this police box, which was bigger on the inside, (don't ask, it takes a long time and you probably wouldn't understand it anyway. I know I don't) a man in a brown pinstriped suit was rushing around like a maniac. In fact, on many of the planets he had visited he had been called that. Right before he exposed the plot to that person's life that his supposed trusted… Right, sorry, I'm rambling. Too much time with him I'm afraid. Anyway, the man, or to be accurate Time Lord, was the Doctor.

He was currently trying to depart from Earth, but his TARDIS wouldn't move. He really wanted to go to Barcelona, now he had a bit of spare time, but he should have known better. Every time he tried to go there, something bad happened.

He frowned. He was sure he had just seen something move on the screen that was monitoring the outside world.

_What was that?_

He stepped outside, and then sighed in exasperation as humans pointed guns at him again. He'd had them pointed at him so many times it had practically become the equivalent to 'Welcome to Earth'.

Really, couldn't they point something nicer at him, like bananas? Oooh, he liked bananas. That would be nice. Or maybe a bag of jelly beans. Although, he wasn't quite sure you could point a bag of jelly beans, but they could always try.

One of the men stepped forwards and opened his mouth.

"Yes, yes. I've got to come with you," the Doctor cut in before the man could speak. Really, humans.

The man looked slightly surprised, but nodded none the less. He wasn't going to argue.

The Doctor sighed. Whenever he cane to Earth there was some kind of trouble. It was almost as though it followed him around or something!

Ianto scribbled furiously pausing every so often to squint at something, and then resume writing. He was starting to go cross eyed, and he would probably need glasses in a few years, but at least the phone wasn't ringing with Generals from UNIT demanding to know what was happening.

Next to him the telephone rang. Typical. The universe must really hate him, although he should have known better than to say that.

He picked it up.

"Torchwood." He said, waiting for the ranting to begin. "Oh, hello sir." Suddenly he sat up straight. "You've found him? No, don't bring him around, we'll collect him. Home Secretary's Office. 5 minutes. Good bye sir."

Ianto put the phone down.

"Owen! Harkness! Come here!" he called.

Owen started over from where he had been checking satellite feeds, and Jack from where he was working on the translator with Martha.

"We need to go to the Home Secretary's office. They've found the Doctor. "

Two sets of eyes widened.

"I want you two to come with me. Harkness, you said you know the Doctor?"

Jack nodded.

"Good. I need you to brief him while I talk to Mr. Davies."

At the Home Secretary's office, the Doctor sat in a plain room with nothing but a chair in it. His sonic screwdriver had been confiscated, and he wasn't quite sure where the TARDIS was.

He leaned back in his chair, and cheekily waved at the security feed.

He'd been in worse situations than this and would certainly get into more dangerous ones.

The door to the room opened.

The Doctor kept his gaze on the far wall. It always annoyed his captors when he did that. Human arrogance, always wanting to be the centre of attention, as they told you their evil, diabolical, and over complicated plan.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor's head snapped around so quickly that Jack couldn't help but give a slight wince at the crack.

"Jack? What are you doing here? I thought you were making peace with Torchwood.

"I am with Torchwood. And you're coming with us."

"Us?"

"Ianto and Owen are here as well."

The Doctor groaned.

"Ianto? Owen? You didn't change the timelines again did you? No, wait, I would know if you did. Unless you used a…"

"They're Gwen's kids." Said Jack, quickly cutting him off before he could go into a 10 minute spiel that went over everyone's head.

They're talking with the Home Secretary right now."

Jack looked away and started to talk animatedly to one of the guards.

The Doctor stood up and followed Jack, pausing as he was handed his sonic screwdriver to check that no one had messed with it.

"Don't worry about the TARDIS. She's being taken to the Hub right now."

"Why do you need me? Why," he gestured with his hand "This?"

"We're being threatened by aliens."

"The Doctor groaned.

"Again? What do you humans do, put a big sign up that says 'Invade Us'? But still, why do you need me? You can usually manage on your own"

"Because Doctor, they're asking for you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author** : Nemainofthewater

**Title** : The Return

**Disclaimer** : I don't own anything you recognise.

**Warning**: Spoilers for CoE and Ocs

Thoughts are in italic.

**Chapter 7**

Toshiko looked at the man who was running around the Archives. Actually running wasn't the best word for what he was doing; he was in fact going so fast that he looked as if he was teleporting from place to place. However, that isn't the best way of describing it, so for now we'll stick with running.

_How can he do that_, she thought, slightly dazed.

Not only was he running around, he was talking at 100 miles an hour in techno babble, that only he seemed to understand, without pausing for breath once.

She looked over to Martha, who was working nearby, and who appeared to understand him. Only the slightly glazed eyes gave her away as she nodded, and made appreciative noises whenever there was an infrequent pause.

The Doctor finished the very long speech, of which Toshiko had only understood the **ands.**

"English please." She said faintly, as the long monologue appeared to have ended.

"Oh. Sorry. Occasionally I get a little carried away, and forget that you apes can't think as quickly as I can. Mind you, it wasn't this bad in my old body. In fact, all I seem to do in his one is talk, don't worry though, when I go on just try to listen, actually I had a fantastic companion, Donna, she'd just slap me when I… "

"Doctor!" shouted Toshiko before he got into another two hour 'discussion' with her. She didn't think she could take another one.

"Sorry again! Basically my TARDIS forms a telepathic link to your mind. Instant translator."

"So what you're saying is that we can understand the Judoon?" she asked, feeling as if they were finally getting to the point.

"Exactly! And they can understand us."

"Then why are you running around the Archives?" Toshiko couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

Luckily the Doctor didn't appear they think they were rude. In fact he looked delighted, and started to talk again.

"I'm trying to find something that will neutralize whatever the Judoon are planning to blow the Earth up with." He said, miraculously without further elaboration.

"But isn't that impossible? You'd have to come up with all the ways the Judoon could destroy it and come up with a counter for every one!"

"Oh yes, fantastic!" the Doctor said staring at something that was blinking innocently and attempting to weld something else to it.

"Oh yes, we can use that!"

He wasn't even listening to her!

Toshiko walked up the stairs which would bring her to the main part of the Hub. She had had enough.

She found Martha, who had also slipped out, the traitor! , Owen, Ianto and Jack discussing strategies.

"We can't just hand them the Doctor!" Jack was saying in a loud voice.

"I'm not saying that we're going to! If you would listen to the whole plan you'd realize that!" Owen shouted right back.

"Fine! Then what is your plan!"

"I say we pretend to give him over, go with him as ambassadors, and then get the Doctor to drive them away." Owen replied, putting a slight emphasis on the word pretend.

"And how is he meant to do that?" Jack retorted.

"This is the best plan we've got Harkness, unless you've got another plan?" Said Ianto.

Jack was silent. He knew how his plans turned out, and he didn't want to have another death n his soul.

"Fine, but I don't think that you should go," he said, "I should. You can die, but I can't. There's less risk using me."

"We're coming!" Martha said fiercely. She had only been here for one 'end of the world' situation so far, and she was determined to prove that she was able to do anything that her older siblings could.

Ianto looked over at her, and she fell silent again.

"Harkness, we're Torchwood. It's our job to face alien threats, and we're not going to avoid doing something just because it's dangerous. However, you are our best asset, and you do have a point. Martha, Owen. You two should stay here. Jack and I will go up with the Doctor."

"No! We're a team. We should go up together or not…"

Ianto cut Owen off mid sentence.

"You need to stay here Owen. You're second in command. If anything happens to me, you're in charge."

He turned to face Martha. Despite his brave words about Torchwood, he really didn't want his baby sister exposed to trouble, and he was going to make her stay here in safety.

"I need you to stay here and monitor the satellites. If anything bad happens I want you to alert UNIT."

"But…"

"End of discussion. I promised Mam I'd take care of you! You don't want her to come down here and kick my butt, do you? "

"Hold on." Said Toshiko, "Why are the Judoon even chasing the Doctor?"

At that moment the Doctor came up the stairs, as if hearing his name had summoned him.

"Ianto? You seem to have some parts missing from…" he trailed off, seeing everyone staring at him. Oh dear. Whenever people stared at him like that, his instincts told him to run.

"Doctor," asked Jack slowly, "why are the Judoon chasing you?"

The Doctor frowned.

"Well, I might have insulted them a just a little teensy tiny bit the last time I saw them, but that shouldn't be enough to provoke them enough to come after me."

"Well, why else would they want you? You haven't picked a stowaway up in your Time Machine, have you?" asked Martha.

"TARDIS, and no, she would have told me."

"What about the Rift?" asked Jack. "Have there been any Rift spikes recently?"

"No," replied Ianto. "The last big Rift spike was a week ago, the day you came through."

"But I didn't come through the Rift. I came in the TARDIS, and that doesn't make the Rift flux. "

"So that's when it must have come through." Said Toshiko.

"But what is it?" asked Owen. "And why do the Judoon want it?"

"Has there been anything strange going on?" asked the Doctor.

"The weevils have been quiet, and I guess a lot of corn has gone missing." said Toshiko. "And what was it you said Doctor? There was something missing from the Archives?"

"Archives? Oh the Archives! Yes, your inventory list doesn't correspond with the actual number of items. You seem to be missing a few."

Ianto shook his head.

"We can't be. I took inventory last month. It shouldn't be incorrect. Unless…"

"The aliens hiding here at the Hub, and has been stealing equipment." Owen finished.

Sueni, the Commander of Section 3 of the Shadow Proclamation, stared at the screen. It was a message to him, detailing a meeting, where a representative of the Earth would negotiate with them for the surrender of the convict.

Sueni was a good commander.

He was sent to find the convict. He would not fail.

Jack Harkness checked his watch. So primitive, he really missed his Vortex Manipulator.

3 minutes until the meeting.

He had finally persuaded Ianto to stay behind to find whatever was hiding at the Hub. He wasn't letting anyone else get hurt on his watch.

2 minutes.

He had given the Doctor his vortex Manipulator, and he would use it to teleport the alien and himself to the Judoon ship as soon as he found it.

1 minute.

Jack stood up and started to scan the sky. They should be here any minute.

30 seconds.

Where were they?

20

Had they decided not to come?

10

A beam of light shot down and hit Jack.

9

He started to ascend.

8

He was 30 meters above the ground.

7

60 meters.

6

He started to speed up.

5

He was halfway to the ship now.

4

It was coming closer and closer.

3

He started to materialize in an oxygen filled chamber.

2

He was fully solid now.

1

He turned around. Behind him was a Judoon.

From the insignias on his uniform, he was clearly the commander.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness, and I'm here to negotiate."

In the Hub, Torchwood plus the Doctor were searching for the alien.

So far, all they had found was a month old sandwich that Owen had hastily pocketed, muttering about bacon and fermenting cheese. Toshiko had decided not to ask.

The Doctor and Martha had taken to poring over the inventory list, trying to figure out what could be made with the missing pieces, while Ianto monitored the meeting between Jack and Sueni, and Owen and Toshiko looked around the Archives again.

"It could make a hair-dryer, not a very powerful one mind you, a T.V remote, only 57 channels though, a communications device, only up to a distance of 6.7 million miles, an animated golf ball, useful that one, a…"

"Hold on." Cut in Martha.

She looked at the Doctor.

"Did you say a communications device?"

"Yes! Fantastic! That's it! That means I'll be able to track the signal back to its source."He fiddled with his sonic screwdriver, and the tip started to light up.

There was scream, a distinctly girly scream that was probably Toshiko; if not Owen had a lot of teasing to put up with if, no, once they saw him.

The Doctor and Martha, with Ianto hot on their heels, ran towards the sound.


End file.
